Renato Carosone with his sextet “’O Mafiuso” (The Mafia man) (Cinebox, 1958).

“’O Mafiuso” was one of the three music videos (the other two were “Atene” and “Torero”) that Carosone made for the Cinebox in December of 1958, just before he withdrew from the music scene on the 7th of September in 1959. The films appeared on the prototype of the Cinebox that was inaugurated at the Press Club in Rome, Italy and at the exposition stands of the SIF company (The International Company of Audiovisuals) at the fair in Milan, Italy respectively April and May of 1959.
The obligatory preceding official censure announcement by the Board of Censors of the Ministry of Tourism and Entertainment was a huge hindrance to the development of the Cinebox enterprise. Censorship was the main culprit that delayed the commercialization of the Cinebox. The first No objections certifications, became effective only on the 15th of March 1961. In other words, when the Cinebox was finally allowed to go onto the market, the music video entitled “’O Mafiuso” (The Mafia man) was already three years old and the singer, Renato Carosone had already retired from the music business 18 months earlier.
Paolo Emilio Nistri, the managing director of the Ottica Meccanica Italiana (Italian Optical Mechanics) in Rome, recalls that his good friend Renato Carosone had stated that he would like to enter into a partnership of the OMI company.

“BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” BY QUEEN IS NOT THE FIRST MUSIC VIDEO IN RECENT HISTORY AS WE HAVE BEEN MADE TO BELIEVE. THE VERY FIRST SHORT FOOTAGE FILM CONCEIVED TO PROMOTE SONGS WAS PRODUCED IN ITALY IN 1959 FOR THE CINEBOX WHICH WAS A REVOLUTIONARY OVERSIZED ‘VIDEO-JUKE-BOX’, THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME ALLOWED US TO LISTEN TO AND TO ACTUALLY SEE THE SINGERS OF THE SONGS.

Renato Carosone, Don Marino Barreto Junior, Peppino Di Capri and Nilla Pizzi, paved the way to the music videos of the nineteen sixties that subsequently aroused the interest and opened the doors to Italian film directors like Vito Molinari, and Enzo Trapani and up and coming new-comers such as Claude Lelouch, Francis Ford Coppola and Robert Altman. For the first time the story is narrated in the Italian Television Documentary ‘Tg2 Dossier’ that follows the thread of the new-born concept of music videos that intertwined through a background of commercial rivalry that flared up between Italy, France and the United States, and which subsequently aroused the interests of the mafia in New York and the suppression by the forceful crackdown of Robert Kennedy’s G-Men.

“The Great-grandfather of the Music Videos” by Michele Bovi, Tg2 Dossier RAI, 16th April 2006. [SUBTITLES IN ENGLISH]

INTERVIEWS AND VIDEOS THAT APPEAR IN THE PROGRAM

Interviews
– Paolo Emilio Nistri, manager Ottico Meccanica Italiana (Rome)
– Andrée Davis-Boyer, producer and film director Scopitone (Paris)
– Bob Orlowsky, lawyer and historian of the music video (San Francisco)
– Frank Rose, journalist (New York)
– Roberto Marai, entrepreneur (Salò, Brescia)
– Ermanno Caselli, technical director of Società Internazionale di Fonovisione (Milan)
– Alberto Moro, editor (Milan)
– Roby Matano, singer (Milan)
– Clem Sacco, singer (Tenerife, Canary Islands)

Videos
– Gianni Morandi e Mary Di Pietro
– Neil Sedaka
– The Queen
– The Delta Rhythm Boys
– Paul Anka
– Brigitte Bardot
– Don Marino Barreto Junior
– I Brutos
– I Divini
– Wera Nepi
– Iva Zanicchi
– Rika Zarai
– Betty Claire
– Henry Salvador
– Gastone Parigi
– Gegè Di Giacomo
– I Campioni
– Fausto Leali
– Lilli Bonato
– Edoardo Vianello
– Pino Donaggio
– Ornella Vanoni
– Nico Fidenco
– Sergio Endrigo
– Ricky Gianco
– John Foster
– Dalida
– Rita Pavone
– Gino Paoli
– Juliette Greco
– Alice e Ellen Kessler
– Peppino Di Capri e i suoi Rockers
– Marino Marini e il suo quartetto
– Adriano Celentano
– Clem Sacco
– Johnny Hallyday
– Sylvie Vartan
– Tony Renis
– Vince Taylor
– Francoise Hardy
– The Touchdown Girls of Crazy Horse
– De Giafferi
– Marian Montgomery
– Debbie Reynolds
– Joi Lansing
– Sandy Shaw
– Miguel Cordoba
– The Procol Harum
– Nancy Sinatra
– Frank Sinatra Junior
– Skin

Giorgio Gaber testimonial of the Cinebox at the Sanremo Festival 1964.

I Divini “La Canzone del Cinebox” (Cinebox, 1962).

The italians, pioners of Music Videos

WHO MADE THE FIRST SHORT-FOOTAGE FILM SPECIFICALLY REDARDING A SONG? MARIO ALMIRANTE IN 1930 FOR ‘NINNA NANNA DELLE DODICI MAMME’ (THE LULLABYE OF TWELVE MOTHERS) BY ODOARDO SPADARO. WHO ACTUALLY FILMED THE FIRST SHORT FOOTAGE PROMOTIONAL COLOR FILM? DOMENICO PAOLELLA FOR ALTAGRACIA’ BY DON MARINO BARRETO JUNIOR, A MUSIC VIDEO MADE FOR THE CINEBOX WHICH WAS A JUKE-BOX WITH A SCREEN FOR PROJECTING VIDEOS INVENTED IN ITALY AND PRESENTED TO THE PUBLIC IN APRIL 1959 BY VITTORIO DE SICA. WHO WAS THE AUTHOR OF THE FIRST NEW GENERATION MUSIC VIDEO? RUGGERO MITI WHO IMMORTALIZED LUCIO BATTISTI IN THE WOODS OF THE BRIANZA, A DISTRICT IN ITALY SINGING THE SONG ‘ANCORA TU’ (YOU AGAIN). WHO WAS THE FIRST TO FILM AN ENTIRE ALBUM OF SONGS? POMPEO DE ANGELIS IN 1973 WITH ‘GIRA CHE TI RIGIRA AMORE BELLO’ (TURN AND BE TURNED MY HANDSOME LOVE) DI CLAUDIO BAGLIONI.

A televised documentary that researched and documented the firstborn of the various music videos, was Tg2 Dossier entitled ‘Generazione De Sica, canzoni da guardare’ (The De Sica generation, songs to see)) by Michele Bovi. It was a journey through a century of popular light hearted melodic or light-music films often with popular singers, as the main protagonist. only to find that many prestigious names of the world of culture and cinema had worked in this genre of ‘Musicarelli’ films (popular light hearted melodic or light-music films often with popular singers, as main protagonist). from Ettore Scola to Nanni Loy, from Ennio Flaiano to Antonio Ghirelli, from Ugo Pirro to Cesare Zavattini. With testimonials of Italian and International artists and film directors plus an interview with Francis Ford Coppola who, when young, was involved in the production of the Scopitone, the French competitor of the Italian Cinebox: in this venture the future director of ‘The Godfather’ lost quite a large sum of money.

“The De Sica Generation: Songs to See” by Michele Bovi, Tg2 Dossier RAI, 9 March 2008. [SUBTITLES IN ENGLISH]

INTERVIEWS AND VIDEOS THAT APPEAR IN THE PROGRAM

Interviews
– Vito Molinari, film director (Milan)
– Piero Pompili, producer and film director (Milan)
– Andrée Davis-Boyer, producer and film director (Paris)
– Francis Ford Coppola, film director (New York)
– Ruggero Miti, film director (Rome)
– Pompeo De Angelis, film director (Rome)
– Bob Orlowsky, lawyer and historian of the music video (San Francisco)
– Edoardo Vianello, singer (Rome)
– Clem Sacco, singer (Tenerife, Canary Islands)
– Fausto Leali, singer (Milan)
– Roberto Marai, entrepreneur (Salò, Brescia)
– Massimo Celeghin, collector (Jesolo, Venice)

Videos
– Vittorio De Sica
– Bessie Smith
– Odoardo Spadaro
– Adriano Celentano con Don Backy, Guidone, Ricky Gianco, Miki Del Prete
– Domenico Paolella
– Silvana Pampanini
– Don Marino Barreto Junior
– Gino Paoli
– Milva
– Giorgio Gaber
– Enzo Jannacci
– Remo Germani
– Gianni Pucci
– Gegè Di Giacomo e il suo complesso
– Antonio Basurto
– Ricky Gianco
– Gino Corcelli
– Adriano Celentano
– Babette
– Germana Caroli
– Sergio Endrigo
– Bobby Rydell
– Neil Sedaka
– Dalida
– Miguel Cordoba
– Line Renaud
– Alice e Ellen Kessler
– Johnny Hallyday
– I Brutos
– Richard Anthony
– The Back Porch Majority
– Dominique & Georges Jouvin
– Los Marcellos Ferial
– The Queen
– Lucio Battisti
– Claudio Baglioni
– Robertina e Gattociliegia
– I Nobili

Four artists that appeared in the music videos of the Cinebox. From left to right: Luigi Tenco, Ricky Gianco, Joe Sentieri, Sergio Endrigo (Milan. Italy 1962).

Frankie Avalon testimonial of the Cinebox at the Sanremo Festival 1964.

Frankie Avalon with the dancer Marisa Ancelli, “Tornerai” (Cinebox, 1962). [From the collection of Andrea Ambrosini].

Between 1962 and 1964, SIF had completely renewed its film repertoire, offering opportunities to the new heartthrobs of the younger generation such as American popstars like Paul Anka, Neil Sedaka, Frankie Avalon and Bobby Rydell who were asked to sing in Italian, which was very fashionable at the time.

Paul Anka “Ogni volta” (Cinebox, 1964).

Paul Anka.

Paul Anka “Estate senza te” (Cinebox, 1964). [From the collection of Andrea Ambrosini].

Paul Anka “Domani prendo il primo treno” (Cinebox, 1964).

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A music video created in Italian for the Italian Cinebox in 1963 entitled: “I tuoi capricci” (Look inside your heart) by Neil Sedaka with Mary Di Pietro.

The SIF magazine.

Bobby Rydell on the set of "Sway" (Cinebox, 1963).

Bobby Rydell “Un bacio piccolissimo” (Cinebox, 1964). [From the collection of Pietro Bologna].

The director Vito Molinari (on the left) with Bobby Rydell on the set of "Sway" (Cinebox, 1963).

Cinejukebox model 50.

Technical features of Cinejukebox model 50.

Technical features of Cinejukebox model 50.

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Here we see the actual fascinating Ferrari Red Cinejukebox which was the last model to come off the assembly line of the SIF (Società Internazionale di Fonovisione). In 1965 the SIF company of Angelo Bottani acquired a new partner, the Milanese industrialist Federico Innocenti, who was very well known and respected in Italy for his imaginative motor vehicles, motor scooters and also steel tube scaffolding. The result was a new model called the Cinejukebox. It had a slightly egg shaped form and it was designed and developed by a team of Swiss architects with the American market in mind. It went into production on the assembly line of the Innocenti factory after the production of motor scooters had closed down when the patent was sold to a company in India. We can note the artistic soft curves and the shinny bright red paint finish reminiscent of motor car bodywork.

This model was the Cinejukebox. It used 40 spools of film like the original Cinebox but it worked also as a Juke-Box and it had 200 songs to choose from. When it was in use only as a Juke-Box, transparent slides projected commercial publicity or a kaleidoscope effect on to the screen. The video mechanism was made in Milan, the sound apparatus was supplied by the American audio firm Rowe-Ami and the end product was assembled in Philadelphia. The Cinejukebox was presented to the Italian public in May of 1966 at the Milan Fair and later in October of the same year it was presented to the American public at MOA (Music Operators of America) at the Chicago Fair. The overall industrial planning was overseen by Mario Colombo who two years later went to work with the Ferrari team at Maranello in northen Italy. The original industrial plan had been to produce 5 thousand machines in one year for distribution in The United States but the Innocenti factory interrupted the production at 400 pieces.

The Cinejukebox is presented by Johnny Charlton who is the ex lead guitarist of The Rokes, the most popular and famous English group in Italy during the nineteen sixties.

[Courtesy of Fausto Casi, director of The Museum of communication devices in Arezzo, Italy].

The Cinebox played music videos of un-released original songs that were cut only as demo records that never went to press and were never put on the market. The record companies used the Cinebox circuit as a market survey to test consumer reactions and presumably the luke-warm reception determined the shelving of the song.Below, for the very first time, I show three music videos in black and white that were produced in 1964 by the SIPEC company that was the main supplier of the films for Cinebox. The managing director of the SIPEC Company Piero Pompili was also the director of the music video.

Fausto Leali & Laura Casati

The first Music Video is entitled Mi sei piacuta subito (I liked you straightaway): sung and performed by the duo Fausto Leali with Laura Casati, both of whom were separate single artists in other music videos of the Cinebox collection. The song is lively and catchy but apparently it did not convince the record company so it was not produced or put onto the market. A long time ago Laura Casati withdrew from the world of music and lives in the town of Pavia Italy with her family. Fausto Leali had completely forgotten that he had ever recorded this song and music video. In fact he adamantly refused to acknowledge its existence and he proffered a bet upon it. As we can see below, he lost the bet!

Remo Germani

The second music video is entitled Modestamente (In all modesty): sung by Remo Germani (Milano Italy 31 May 1938-Vigevano Italy 18 October 2010). Remo Germani also had other music videos in the Cinebox collection one of which was the highly successful song Non Andare col Tamburo (Don’t go with your drum).
Just like Fausto Leali, this song and music video had completely faded from Remo Germani’s memory. There is no trace or listing of this song or music video in his official song lists.

Jerry Puyell

The third Music Video is entitled Non ho il Clan (loosely translated: I do not belong to a clan) sung by Jerry Puyell (Mario Puglielli) from Milano Italy, son of a military hero, who was a forerunner of the Italian rock singers. He was the son of an agent of the Italian Military secret service and he was one of the so called ‘Wild ravers’ who went down in the history of Italian music, known as the Clan (Adriano Celentano, Clem Sacco, Ghigo, Jack la Cayenne, Guidone). In the late fifties the Milan civil authorities and the religious order of the Ambrosiani were scandalized by their rebellious wild raving antics during a concert at the Ice Rink Palace and at the Teatro Smeralda. They were decrying and instigating ‘Rebel Music’ as an offshoot of what was happening with Rock ‘n’ Roll in America and the rest of the world. Jerry Puyell, like Adriano Celentano, in an outrageous parody imitated in a ridiculously comical springy, shaking manner Jerry Lewis and Elvis Presley and he could seem to be the twin brother of Celentano who in Italian is appropriately nicknamed “The springer” (Il molleggiato). In the end Jerry Puyell never became one of ‘The Clan’ of Celentano. Obviously, this is where the title Non ho il Clan (I do not belong to a clan) originated from. Today, Jerry Puyell lives in Madrid, Spain and runs his own business.